by Leanne Welch, Manager, Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, Florida
Volunteers are the life blood and backbone of many nature centers. At Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, our volunteers come from all walks of life, and range in age from 16 to 92. Currently we have 185 active volunteers, working an average of 1,500 hours each month. We are a mid-size, urban nature center on 20 acres in Boca Raton, Florida, and host over 250,000 visitors each year.
Our volunteers perform all our front-facing and some of our behind-the-scenes activities. This includes greeting our visitors at the front desk, acting as docents at our aquariums and exhibits, assisting with field trips, public programs, special events, and tours, and assisting with the care of our many animals.
Like many nature centers, we simply couldn’t have nearly the impact we do without our volunteers. So, how do we continue to successfully recruit, train, reward, manage, and keep these generous unpaid employees? How can we keep attracting the next generation to volunteer? And what can we do to make sure our older volunteers feel comfortable and can keep coming in?
Recruitment
With every new volunteer, I like to ask them how they heard about us. There is no one right answer! We’ve heard everything from word of mouth to social media. Last summer, nearly every high school volunteer found out about us because someone told them about our Instagram page announcement. We have rack cards in the nature center, our newsletter mentions volunteer opportunities, we make sure that every public program includes a quick plug about our volunteer program, and the volunteer information is front and center on our website.
All interested individuals are referred to our volunteer coordinator for an interview. Gumbo Limbo is very fortunate to have a full-time dedicated volunteer coordinator, as supervising nearly 200 unpaid employees is definitely a full-time job!
Only about 30% of individuals expressing an interest take the next step to complete an application and self-schedule an interview. During an interview, we are looking for their motivation; we ask a lot of our volunteers, so we want to make sure they know what they are getting into. We like to set expectations from that very first interaction – we are looking for a long-term relationship with our volunteers. Ideally a volunteer will work at least one 4-hour shift a week for a minimum of six months (and hopefully much longer). We are looking for someone who is motivated to give back, and someone who is excited to be a part of our team.
Background Checks
After an interview, successful candidates will be moved on to the next phase of the process, a level 2 background check in the Volunteer and Employee Criminal History System administered by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. This can be expensive and results can take a couple of weeks, but as any one of our volunteers could be in a situation where they are alone with a child or vulnerable person, it is important that we do a thorough job to eliminate potential risks. Gumbo Limbo is a government facility, and part of the City of Boca Raton. The City’s HR coordinator is the only one who sees the results of the background check and makes the determination regarding eligibility. For your nature center, it may be someone else.
Orientation and Onboarding
Successful applicants are then scheduled for one of our monthly orientation sessions. About 80% of the candidates we interview make it to an orientation. We try to vary when these are held, offering a Saturday morning session one month, and a weeknight evening session on another month for example. The goal is to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to attend a session. Orientation is about 3 hours and includes an overview of Gumbo Limbo, details of policies and procedures, and a tour of the property and aquariums.
Nearly 80% of candidates who complete orientation decide to continue as volunteers. For a new volunteer’s first 50 hours, they are considered to be Level 1 or “in training” and are usually paired with an experienced volunteer or mentor. Our newest volunteers can work at the Welcome Desk, as an Aquarium Guide, as a Field trip/ Camp Assistant, or assist our educational programs and special events
After completing 50 hours, volunteers are excited to remove their badge flag that says, “in training” and to be able to sign up for Level 2 tasks. These volunteers can now be trained to work alone as a Classroom Aide, or a Program Presenter, as well as assist with our evening Sea Turtle Walks and Hatchling Releases.
Once a volunteer completes 75 or more hours, they are considered level 3 and may qualify to give tours, participate in animal care and serve as mentors to new volunteers. Many of these tasks have additional training and even exams. Our level 3 volunteers are well-versed in just about every job at Gumbo Limbo, and we depend on them each and every day.
Scheduling
We utilize Volgistics as software for our volunteer program. This allows our volunteers to self-schedule for assignments that they are eligible for. This requires regular maintenance for our volunteer coordinator to be able to update skills and eligibility for each volunteer. We set our needs and our volunteers fill the vacancies as their schedules allow. We can add special events and training to the schedule and also send e-mails to volunteers through this system.
Flexible scheduling works well for us and is consistently one of the main reasons that volunteers list when we ask “Why volunteer at Gumbo Limbo and not somewhere else?” While many of our volunteers like to be consistent and might be found at the same aquarium every Tuesday morning, just as many prefer to check the schedule for openings and fill in based on their interests and availability each week.
This software also has a touchscreen option that our volunteers can use as a timeclock to punch in and out for each shift. The reporting feature makes calculating volunteer service hours easy for end of month reporting or validating service hours for scholarships and college applications.
Awards and Recognition
We work hard to make sure our volunteers know how much we value them. Our staff members make sure that volunteers feel welcomed from their very first day by simply saying hi and welcoming them. We have a bulletin board and keep it updated with important info about our animals and exhibits. There is a recognition board showing volunteer birthdays and years of service milestones that gets updated every month. Our volunteer coordinator even takes the time to write and mail personalized birthday cards for our volunteers – this is so appreciated by everyone.
The City purchases popsicles and electrolyte sports drinks to make sure everyone stays hydrated and cool in the hot Florida summers. And we all take turns personally providing snacks in the breakroom – either store bought or homemade.
We have regular recognition such as a Volunteer Of The Month program as well as quarterly socials and activities such as beach clean ups, snorkeling, kayaking, and a summer ice cream party. Not everyone participates in every social, but we see lots of smiles all around and our volunteers are excited to meet some new colleagues and make new connections.
Once a year, we host our annual awards and recognition ceremony where we provide dinner, and shower our volunteers with love, giveaways, and awards such as Service with a Smile, Conservation Hero, Animal Care Champion, Rookie of the Year, Future Leader, and Volunteer of the Year honors. We try to have all paid staff attend and assist at the awards ceremony.
Looking ahead
At the end of the day, volunteers are an integral part of any visitor’s experience. Many of our visitor reviews mention our knowledgeable and friendly volunteers. We have made it a priority to make sure we can hold onto those volunteers. However, we have found that just over 50% of our volunteers stay longer than a year. If you have been doing the math, you might have realized that of every 100 inquiries, only about 19 people complete the onboarding process and join us as a volunteer, and then only 10 of those will continue volunteering into the next year. These are tough statistics, and we are working hard to change that.
We have recently created a Volunteer Advisory Committee, staffed with some of our long-term volunteers, to help brainstorm solutions to this dilemma. We have responded to hotter and drier summers by creating shorter shifts and more frequent breaks for volunteers at the outdoor exhibits. We have also created a mentor program to give our newer volunteers a “go to” person while they are learning the ropes. We have also gotten much more intentional in our communication, so our volunteers know exactly how valued they are.
Treasured Time
Our volunteers are simply our most valuable asset. Many of our employees were once volunteers themselves, and our volunteers are some of our biggest advocates. In an average year, our volunteers give us nearly 20,000 hours of their time. This is the equivalent of almost 10 full-time employees and represents salary savings between $400,000 and $600,000 each year! We consider ourselves incredibly fortunate to have so many individuals so invested in our nature center that they are willing to give us their most precious resource: their free time.
Every nature center is different, but if you found some helpful information in here and would like more details, please send us an e-mail at
Advertisements
